Leave of Absence: The Original
by Old Iron
Summary: A database malfunction leads to some very interesting and unexpected events for Yuuno Scrya and the members of Section Six. THIS STORY IS NOW DEFUNCT AND IS BEING REWRITTEN
1. Prologue

As usual, I own nothing related to the franchises involved. This is my first multi-chapter work and I do not plan on having it go dark as 'I Stand Alone' did. I hope you enjoy the story and as always, comments and criticisms are appreciated.

- Story Start -

Over the years, Yuuno Scrya had developed the rather useful talent of remaining calm in the face of danger. A talent which unfortunately decided to leave him hanging at this moment. Sitting in an ominously lit office facing the flat stare of a rather imposing Major General, the librarian could only begin to image what he'd been called in for. The message had been given to him by Arf and contained only the time and location for the summons.

When the silence of the room had reached the point of being near deafening, the general broke it rather bluntly.

"Professor Scrya, do you have any idea as to why you've been called in here?" questioned the bald man as he leaned in slightly whilst lacing his finger together in front of him. The light hit his glasses in such a way as to hide the general's eyes and further unnerve the librarian.

"No sir." Yuuno answered after swallowing audibly. His performance had always been exemplary as far as he figured, not to mention that many of his subordinates found him to be a fair boss. He fought the urge to fidget, a bad habit from his youth that hadn't completely vanished.

The pause did not help Yuuno's rapidly fraying nerves.

The general's brow furrowed, "It has come to my attention that you have not taken any vacation time in the last three years."

A beat.

"What." Yuuno's flat response and dumbfounded look only seemed to cause the room to shrink under the general's unwavering gaze.

"TSAB Human Resources clearly states the guidelines for vacation time and you are in violation of said guidelines. We cannot have the head of our Intelligence Division collapsing from overwork or giving the image that the TSAB is full of unrelenting slave drivers. Our image is hard enough to maintain as it is." Explained the general in an increasingly unamused tone of voice.

Realizing exactly what the issue was now, Yuuno spoke up, "But, sir. Th-" Came the attempted explanation for such a situation, only to be cut off.

"I wont hear it, Professor. You are officially on a paid leave of absence that is effective immediately. You are not to set foot in your office for anything other than collecting your personal effects for no less than a month. Now get out of my office." The general's tone of voice brooked no argument and Yuuno found himself standing outside of the office blinking in confusion, holding the hardcopy of the official notice and not exactly sure as to how he got there.

"-e records were damaged yesterday." Finished the head librarian in his stupor.

"What records?" Queried a tall, pink-haired figure approaching from his left. Signum stood there with a raised eyebrow and a tall stack of paper filled binders in her hands.

"Hey Signum, let me get some of those for you." Greeted Yuuno whilst taking a good portion of the binders from Signum. He knew that they were of no inconvenience to her, but he felt it was the gentlemanly thing to do. "That server failure yesterday corrupted a large number of files in the Human Resources department, apparently including my vacation time records."

"Thank you.." Signum replied before motioning the direction that she was heading, wordlessly prompting him to continue as they walked.

"Apparently Major General Blackstone got ahold of the corrupted data and thought I hadn't taken vacation leave in three years. Now I'm on a leave of absence for a month so that it doesn't appear that the TSAB is full of slave drivers." Explained Yuuno with a slight amount of bewilderment.

"I have heard that he has a bad habit of not double checking information that doesn't involve combat." Offered Signum with a bemused grin at Yuuno's expense. "At least now you don't have to wait for one of us to come barging into your office to take time off."

"Very true." Yuuno laughed at that. It was true that he often got too involved in his work and forgot to take a break. His time off, more often than not, tended to coincide with visits from certain members of Special Duty Section Six. His friends seemed the most adept at dragging him out of his office, a fact that his subordinates exploited to prevent their boss from overworking himself. That and the HQ wide betting pools on who would show up and how they'd actually drag him out.

Fortunately, no one had won the 'Starlight Breaker' pool yet.

However, someone had won the 'Ferret Cage' pool last year. Damn you, Chrono.

"What are you planning to do with your forced vacation time?" Asked the General of Fire as they turned a corner.

"I have no idea, honestly. I've never had this much time off before." Usually his time off was measured in single days, a week at most. His mind began pondering what exactly to do with all that time. "I suppose I could work on my magic. There's a new barrier theory that I've been working on."

"That sounds promising and something I would like to see when completed, but more like work than time off. Why not take up a hobby?" While Signum was probably the most serious and work driven member of the Wolkenritter, even she knew how to take it easy on her own time. A bottle of warm sake, some soothing music, and a light novel was a good way to get the tension out.

"A hobby, huh?" He could probably count archaeology as his hobby, but doubted that anyone would let him near a dig for the next month or so since it would also qualify as work in the eyes of some people.

"Such as Zafira's painting, or Lady Hayate's cosplay." Clarified Signum as they neared her destination, "Or even Shamal's..." A pause, "...cooking." Those last two probably weren't the best examples owing to the possible ill effects on the health of those around them. It baffled the knight how Shamal had managed to turn spaghetti into a substance comparable to thermite. Signum's own ability to burn water notwithstanding. At least Hayate's hobby was, while embarrassing, non-lethal.

"You did look rather fetching in that last outfit, Miss Loveless." Referring to Hayate's most recent exploits in the realm of costuming. His slight tease was met with an embarrassed pink tinge on Signum's cheeks and a mild glare that promised excessive violence in their next spar should he continue.

"In any case, I am certain that you'll find something to occupy your time without having it misconstrued as work. At the very least you may find some ideas in those tomes of yours." Reaching the office that Signum was taking the binders, the pair delivered the stacks with little issue before parting. "I shall talk with you later, Yuuno. Have a good day."

"You too Signum, it was nice to see you again." With that they parted, Yuuno to gather his effects and Signum to Section Six.

It hadn't taken long for the blonde to gather his things and be off. On his drive home, he noticed a billboard for a hobby shop's website. It was rather impressive and he caught the address whilst driving by.

"The internet, huh?" The next month would be interesting for certain.


	2. Chapter 1

Here we go for chapter 1. Standard disclaimers apply and as always, comments and criticisms are appreciated.

- Chapter Start -

It was a rarity for Yuuno to sleep in, the man preferring to be up early so that he could get a head start on the tasks of the day. The first day of his month long hiatus from work was no different. Rising a few minutes before his alarm clock went off, he sat there in a daze. His sleep addled mind was trying to process what exactly to do with the day and having very little success.

Maybe he should get out of bed first. Yes, that seemed like a good course of action.

One nice hot shower and a decent breakfast later, Yuuno was feeling much more awake. Recalling the ad from last night, he made his way over to the computer occupying one corner of his flat. "Signum did suggest I try out a hobby. I'll take a look at that website. But first..."

Once the machine had booted up, the blonde was greeted with a message telling him that he had unread mail. It should be noted that Yuuno has two mail addresses. One for work and the other for his personal, day-to-day activities. Since he uses his work mail so much more often, everyone simply started using that address as his primary form of contact. Needless to say, his personal mail had gotten neglected and filters gone outdated.

"You have 65,536 unread messages, Mr. Scrya." Intoned a feminine voice.

Yuuno's response was to stare at the screen for a moment, one eye twitching. "I know it's been a while, but that's ridiculous." Stretching his arms, he set to cleaning out the Inbox from Hell. Most were easily disposed of. Others decided to go out of their way to avoid detection from the freshly upgraded spam filter.

"No. No. No. Definitely not. Don't know any princes from Nigeria." He mused to himself whilst going about his task. "Natural male enhancement, no thank you. Hot ferret singles in your area, into the trash you go." Yuuno was beginning to think that he should just delete the account at the rate he was going and the ineffectiveness of modern spam filters. "Hmm? Chrono sent this one a few days ago."

Clicking on the message from his friend, he noted that it had a video attached to it. Though the message, 'I found this by accident and I refuse to suffer alone.' did not raise Yuuno's spirits any. Clicking on the video, he braced himself. Everything seemed fine at first. What appeared on screen would take copious amounts of brain bleach to remove from the man's mind. Numbly closing the video, Yuuno went back to his original task with the movements of a poorly oiled automaton.

"I am going to kill him. Slowly and painfully." It was not long after that Yuuno's mind cleared enough to finish off his task and finally get around to what he'd initially set out to do on the web. Pulling up the hobby shop's homepage, he was quite surprised at the number of options available to him. One thing did stand out though: model kits. "That could be interesting... May as well give it a shot?"

It didn't take long for the librarian to set up an account and purchase a few of the models. They were of varying grades and he decided to start small. Plus, if it turned out to not be his thing then he could return the unopened kits. While checking the shipping information in his mail, a new message appeared in his Inbox.

It was marked as 'Sender: Unknown' with the subject line being empty. Writing it off as either spam or a potential virus, Yuuno proceeded to delete the message. Only to find out that he couldn't. Whenever he attempted to, a message would appear and deny him access or simply remove the delete function. "Great. First day of vacation and my computer gets a virus." As if those were some kind of magic word, the message opened itself and Yuuno found himself gawking at his computer display in shock.

"It has... been a while, Mr. Scrya." The voice was slightly hesitant, but otherwise exactly as Yuuno remembered it: soft, while calculating and filled with power.

"You, but how?" Yuuno did not think it was possible, but there she was: sitting straight backed on some manner of invisible chair was Reinforce. "We sealed you away with the protection program. You _died_." It had been a very emotional end to what was known as the Book of Darkness Incident. With no other recourse to prevent the return of the seemingly immortal and corrupt defense program, they'd had to seal away Reinforce permanently. It hadn't mattered how many other options they'd attempted and simulated. It always came back to requiring the death of the silver haired woman.

Looking slightly embarrassed, Reinforce answered the librarian's question, "...The procedure did not work properly."

"We ran through every possible alternative and nothing worked." Yuuno replied, raising an eyebrow at the enigmatic response and trying to convince himself that this was not a hallucination.

"Please remember that you were all still rather young at the time and the techniques and technology at your disposal were not so advanced as those that created me." She began explaining, "I had thought your decision was the correct one and would work at the time. But something went wrong or part of the equation was incorrect. I survived, as did the corruption, albeit both of us in a severely weakened state. As you might expect, the corruption tried to regain its power."

Yuuno's eyes narrowed, realizing more and more that this was really happening. "Something stopped it, it take it?"

Reinforce nodded, "The regeneration code had been completely destroyed in the sealing, so it was unable to repair the damage it took. It attempted to invade sources of data to try and rebuild its code, but eventually something called a 'Creeper' overwhelmed and destroyed it for good." She paused for a moment and then headed off what would likely be the next question asked of her, "I was separated from the corrupted defense program and attempted to put and end to it myself, but was ultimately forced to stay back or be devoured... Which would possibly have led to the whole thing starting over again."

"Well, that explains pretty much everything except for why you didn't show up until now. Have you been dealing with the program all this time, or...?" He trailed off, prompting Reinforce to answer.

"It did not take too long for the program to be eliminated in its weakened state. Since then I have been recovering and searching for a way to find and contact anyone. You were the first one I have had success with." It was an honest explanation, one that Yuuno took at face value.

Shaking his head. "Well this wasn't how I expected the first day of my vacation to turn out. Would you like me to get ahold of Hayate, I'm certain she'd love to see you again. Her and everyone else." All things considered, Yuuno was fairly certain that he was dealing with this absurdly unexpected situation rather well. Or he'd lost his marbles.

"Would you please hold on that? I.. I would like to prepare myself. I had honestly not expected to be met with as much success as I have. In addition to the fact that I currently lack a physical body..." Reinforce seemed a little hesitant in her reply from within the computer display.

"Understandable. Though I'm still a little shocked about this whole thing." A sudden thought came to Yuuno. "Wait. Did you happen to run through the TSAB systems the other day?"

"Yes." Blinking in confusion, the device nodded. "Did something happen?"

"You could say that. Likely thanks to you, I got placed on a month long paid vacation. Somehow allowing us to meet like this." He stated with an amused grin.

"That sounds absurdly convenient and rather improbable, Mr. Scrya." Her gaze was flat but her voice belied some amusement at the notion.

"No kidding. But please call me Yuuno. Mr. Scrya is too formal." He adjusted his seat to get a bit more comfortable, "As for getting you out of there... I may be able to set something up. It'll take some research, but I'm not going to leave you stuck in there."

Her smile was beautiful. "Thank you Yuuno, I am in your debt. May I ask how you've been these past years?"

The midmorning artificial sun in the TSAB HQ slowly arced over the skyline as the two talked late into the day.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 begins here. Standard disclaimers apply. Comments and criticisms are always welcome.

- Chapter Start -

The day following Reinforce's wholly unexpected reintroduction to his life, Yuuno found himself sitting at his coffee table with a wide array of tomes and data pads spread out before him. A half full mug of dark coffee sat steaming within reach. As he poured over the information and Lost Logia records he was able obtain access to, Reinforce looked on in interest from behind the computer display that had become her window to the physical world.

It was fascinating to watch Yuuno work. The deep concentration and furrowing of his brow while he read through volumes and volumes of data. His hands flew about as though they possessed minds of their own, writing down multitudes of notes and theories. Murmuring and whispers could be heard whenever Yuuno began translating passages aloud. Reinforce found herself unable to tear her gaze away from the scene.

When an antique wall clock chimed, the spell was broken. "Yuuno, I think it would do you well to take a break. It is already ten o'clock." The silver haired woman interrupted.

Blinking, Yuuno looked over to Reinforce's display and then to his clock. "I think you're right." He downed that last of his drink and stood up, stretching as he did so and eliciting more than a few cracks and pops from stiff joints. "Still, I think I've made some headway into a solution for you."

"Oh?" Reinforce was curious as to what he could have found in such a short time.

"Its only a theory at this point, since there isn't very much data on Unison Devices surviving to this day... But from what I gathered in the data I took from you last night, your current state has only sufficient magical power to maintain that form." Pausing to find the right words to describe the situation, the blonde tapped his pencil while looking thoughtfully at Reinforce's display. "The limitations of that form are part of what is preventing you from regaining a body. Your linker core is simply unable to generate enough power to reach the critical mass that would allow you to move beyond the digital realm."

It was a bizarre hypothesis, but one that seemed to make some sense based on the information he had gathered and processed. Unison Devices were an extremely poorly understood legacy of the Belkan Empire. They were living beings and sentient programs at the same time. The idea that a computer could bleed when cut, or that flesh and blood could be made of data was both amazing and mystifying on many levels. Truly, their creators were on a wholly different plane of brilliance.

He continued his explanation, Reinforce listening intently, "I'll need some more time to check my hypothesis. I believe that if you are supplied with enough mana over time from another source, we may be able to jump start your linker core into higher levels of production. From there we could bring up your power levels to a point that would allow you to exist in a physical form. The only issues beyond that are what to do about your damaged code..."

"The defense program." Reinforce spoke in a hushed tone that conveyed much worry to the librarian. "Since the portion of my code that controls the regeneration of the defense program is severely damaged, we are safe. But if fixing that code brings back the corrupted program..."

There was no need to finish that statement. Both knew that fixing the code could lead to a disastrous repeat of the bloody events that the Book of Darkness had carved into history. An uncomfortable silence settled around the two as memories and knowledge of the past surfaced into the forefront of their minds.

"I must think on this, Yuuno. please excuse me." With a short bow, Reinforce vanished from the display before Yuuno could call out to her. For a moment, Yuuno stood there with a hand outstretched towards the computer.

Sighing, the librarian flopped back into his seat. "That could have gone better..." His enthusiasm for discovery had gotten the better of him. It happened on occasion, when dealing with a topic of great significance, and soon it was more the discovery and research that mattered than the people around him. He recalled the last time it had happened and had wound up being chased around Section 6 by an irate and embarrassed Vita.

The issue with the defense program was obviously a worrisome topic for Reinforce and Yuuno realized that, in hindsight, it would likely have been better to hold off on giving her too many details until he had something more concrete to work with. "I'll apologize when she comes back." He told himself before beginning to clean up his workspace so that it didn't look like a complete disaster.

It was perhaps and hour or so later when Yuuno began making preparations for lunch that the doorbell rang. Glancing at the still blank display, he set down the loaf of bread and went to answer the door. "I'm coming! Just a moment." He hollered to the unknown entity beyond the door as it rang the doorbell again.

Imagine his surprise to see one Commander Yagami Hayate standing at his door. He blinked for a moment, a combination of surprise and worry at the possibility of Reinforce having been discovered lingered in the back of Yuuno's mind before being banished. Improbability aside, if Reinforce had been found out, Hayate would not be the only person standing outside his door.

"Well, aren't you going to invite your cute childhood friend in?" Hayate broke the short silence with a teasing grin.

Finding himself, Yuuno stepped aside and made a sweeping gesture with his hand to grant the young woman entry, lowing his head as he did so. "My apologies, m'Lady. Please, come in." He spoke with a false regal tone.

"Thank you good sir." Hayate's grin intensified before she schooled her face into a vision of great self-importance. She stepped into Yuuno's home with the air of a monarch, her briefcase held like the hand bag of a royal.

To their credit, they lasted all of twenty seconds before breaking down into laughter. Yuuno's noble act had started as a spur of the moment means of getting back at Hayate's nearly endless teasing. Needless to say, it backfired spectacularly and had gradually become a point of mutual amusement over the years.

When the laughter finally died down, Yuuno took note of the dark circles under Hayate's eyes and how her normally impeccable uniform seemed wrinkled to the point of having been slept in. He reached over to take her briefcase which was surrendered without complaint. "Had to stay overnight at the office?"

The tiredness seemed to catch up to Hayate rather quickly as her shoulders sagged weakly. "Thirty-six hours... Just meeting after meeting after meeting, not including my own work." She managed to get her shoes off but seemed to be having some difficulty with the jacket. Yuuno helped her out of it and hung the article of clothing on a coat rack.

"Well, you are always welcome to crash here. I may have to get you your own key at this rate though." He said good-naturedly. Due to the proximity of his home to the administrative offices at the TSAB HQ, it wasn't terribly uncommon for one of his friends to drop by after a particularly grueling day at work. Usually they would arrive if they knew he was home. In cases where he wasn't, it usually led to a phone call so that he could unlock the door remotely or in person.

Hayate was the most frequent offender owing to the distance between her home and her office and the fact that she probably put in more extra hours due to her rank than anybody else. She usually showed up whenever everyone else was out on duty overnight or when she didn't feel awake enough to make the drive all the way home. To Yuuno, it looked like the latter of the two was the case.

"I may take you up on that offer." Hayate replied with a smile. "Still, thanks for letting me stay over every now and then... I can't believe its almost noon and I'm this tired."

Glad that she hadn't decided to take notice of the large stacks of tomes and data pads, Yuuno pulled up a chair for the brunette by the lunch table. "Want something to eat? I was actually about to fix up some lunch."

As if on queue, a loud rumble and a red-faced Hayate answered him. "I... didn't get a chance to grab breakfast." She admitted somewhat bashfully.

"I'll make us some sandwiches. Is pastrami alright?" He rummaged around his refrigerator for said lunch meat.

"Sure." Hayate watched Yuuno go about making their lunch with a smile as tiredness continued to urge her body into dreamland. One might wonder why she didn't call up one of her 'kids' to pick her up at the office, but Hayate knew that they had their own situations to deal with and that despite their absolute willingness to drop everything and come to her aid, she didn't feel it was fair to them.

A flickering light caught Hayate's attention out of the corner of her eye. Turning to see what the unknown was, she was wholly unprepared for what she saw.

"Yuuno, I have been thinking about what you said and-" Reinforce's image went perfectly still as she laid eyes upon the one person she was truly not ready to see yet.

As blood red and dark blue eyes met for the first time in years, Yuuno could only curse his carelessness.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 begins here. Standard disclaimers apply. Comments and criticisms are always welcome.

- Chapter Start -

For a while, no one moved much less spoke. The only sounds registered were the faint ticking of the clock and a slight clinking noise as Yuuno set down the two plates of food he had prepared.

On unsteady feet, Hayate rose from her seat and approached the computer display. Her footsteps felt heavy like iron slabs were tied around her ankles. She reached out to the image of the silver haired beauty, not entirely believing what she was seeing. "How? When? This isn't an illusion, is it?" Hayate questioned in a near whisper.

Seeing that his friend's legs were about to give out beneath her, Yuuno tossed aside his reservations about the situation and hurried to her side. The brunette collapsed into his arms, but her eyes remained fixed on Reinforce's image. He shot an apologetic look to the woman, indicating that he had not planned for this to happen. He was knocked to the floor as Hayate violently turned around to face him, landing on top of Yuuno with tears in her blue eyes.

"Haya-" He was cut off when she grasped his shirt in both hands and tried to pull him up to bring him up to face her, a task she was unable to accomplish.

"Yuuno, tell me what's going on." Her voice trembled. "Tell me this isn't a horrible joke..." The exhaustion and lack of food combined with sudden and severe emotional stress finally took its toll on the commander. Hayate's eyes trembled before closing, her hands losing their already weakened grip. Her body slumped against Yuuno's, having surrendered to sleep against its owner's will.

Reinforce had watched the whole scene unfold with widened eyes and a shocked expression upon her normally collected countenance. She reached out, only to find herself hampered by the lack of physical body and the bindings of the computer. It was horrifying, in a way, to be unable to comfort someone who was so close to your heart, yet only feet away. Her surprise and terror turned to a look of severe sadness.

Yuuno slowly wrapped his arms around the woman atop him, brushing her hair in a comforting manner as silent sobs shook her sleeping form. "Shhh... Its alright..." He spoke in a soft tone, trying to calm his friend. "Rest now."

It was with some difficulty that the blonde managed to go from a prone position beneath the brunette, to standing with her held in his arms. "What are you...?" Began Reinforce upon snapping out of her daze.

"I'm putting her to bed. She needs rest and I'm not a very comfortable mattress." Responded Yuuno without humor. "I'll be right back."

He carefully took Hayate to his bedroom in a princess carry, her soft sobs having passed leaving only the marks of tears and a runny nose upon his shirt. He placed her on the bed then set about making her comfortable. Yuuno removed her socks and then undid her tie and hairclips, eliciting barely a twitch from the passed out brunette. After pulling the sheets over Hayate's tired form, he stroked her hair once more and then left the room, closing the door behind him.

"You are a good man, Yuuno." Commented Reinforce when the librarian returned. She watched him set aside the tie, socks, and hairclips so they wouldn't be forgotten later.

Placing saran-wrap over Hayate's lunch, he put it away in the refrigerator. While his head was still in the large storage unit, he spoke to Reinforce, loudly enough that he could be heard from the distance. "What are you going to do now? There's no way to conceal your return now."

"It is... far sooner than I would have preferred, but I will not hide from Mistress Hayate any further." A pause in which melancholy consumed the device's features. "I should have had you contact her immediately."

"You should have." Reinforce winced at the harsh reply. "And I'm just as guilty for not trying to convincing you to do so or doing it myself." Picking up his own lunch plate, Yuuno went over to the computer desk and sat down. A severe expression was on his normally genial features as he silently took a bite of the sandwich.

Chewing methodically, Yuuno's mind was mulling over the events that had just occurred. Never before in all the time he'd known her, had he seen Hayate so distraught. While he'd heard about her reaction when the Wolkenritter had been killed by Graham's familiars during the Book of Darkness Incident, he was not witness to it. It was heartbreaking to see the normally playful and composed Hayate in such a state.

"Yuuno... About earlier. Your theory for freeing me from this digital prison." The statement brought the man out of his thoughts. Reinforce continued one she had his attention. "I would like to try it. No... I WILL do it. There is no trying at this point. I will make it work, one way or another." There was steel in her voice and resolve had banished her melancholy. "Mistress Hayate is my family, the Wolkenritter as well. I left them once before and I will not do it again. Defense Program be damned. Should it dare return, the I shall tear it apart with my bare hands."

Yuuno's eyes remained fixed on the impassioned woman before him. "Alright." He spoke after a few moments of silence. Leaning forward, he continued, "We'll do this. I promised that would help you, after all. Also, for Hayate."

Reinforce nodded. "What will we have to do?"

"Like I said earlier, we are going to require that you be supplied with an external mana source to get your linker core back up to its original levels of production." The librarian re-stated his theory from earlier. "This won't be anything like what was needed to fill pages for the Book. It'll be periodic donations of mana from someone. I'm more than willing to provide my own power and I'm certain everyone else would be as well. I'm fairly confident that the Wolkenritter and Hayate would be able to give you mana most closely synchronized with your own."

"How will you transfer the mana into my... prison?"

Yuuno leaned back into his chair, ignoring the half-eaten lunch on the desk. "Since spells are really nothing more than mana put through a specific set of equations. It'll be a matter of making an equation that your prison can interpret and send the mana to you in a usable way." Sighing, he ran a hand through his long, blonde hair. "It'll just take some time to develop, unless..."

"Unless what? Is there something that could hasten the process?" Oh, how she wanted to be free of this realm. Now, more than ever. Reinforce could once again be with her family.

"I have been working on some new barrier theories, but I'm not sure that it would be worth the delay to see if they'd help or not." He admitted honestly. "I'm also not certain I could handle all the equations by myself even if it did work."

Reinforce blinked. "You do not have a device of your own?"

"I was the former owner of Nanoha's Raising Heart, but situation forced it into her hands and it was pretty much hers from then on. I can say that Raising Heart is definitely in better hands." He replied with a feeling of nostalgia, recalling his first meeting with the little girl who would later grow up to become one of the TSAB's most powerful and feared combatants.

That was something unexpected to Reinforce and only opened up more questions for her. But those would have to wait for a later time. For now, they would work on more immediate concerns. "Then let us get to work."

Yuuno nodded and proceeded to polish off his lunch with renewed vigor. "I'll work on the equation. I want you to go over information from the Belkan era." The silver haired woman nodded her head in agreement. "When we first sealed you, we didn't have access to the Infinity Library as we do now. It was a barely functioning mess with fifty years of backlog. Now..." A wicked grin graced his features.

Using Yuuno's remote access to the Infinity Library, with an accepted excuse of it being a personal project to any messages asking what was going on, Reinforce began pouring over the well organized stacks of data. Meanwhile, Yuuno himself was surrounded by a massive array of glowing green symbols, shapes, and equations, working hard at crafting a means for mana transfer.

They were hard at work for the better part of six hours, a mutual drive kept pushing them forward. Neither took a break. Neither wanted to take a break. It was only the sound of a dull thump that penetrated their concentration, most owing to the fact that it came from behind Yuuno's bedroom door.

Reinforce and Yuuno shared a look before the man banished his work and went to the door. Steeling himself, he slowly entered the room. "Hayate. Are you up?" He asked in a soft voice, just in case she hadn't awakened. A groan from the side of the bed answered him. It seemed that the brunette had fallen out of bed.

"Wha? Where am I? Yuuno?" Hayate questioned groggily, not really awake yet. She pulled herself back onto the bed and lay there, facing the ceiling in ruffled clothes. "I had the weirdest dream... Reinforce was alive and she was living in your computer." It seemed that the earlier events were too surreal to seem true to the young woman.

"Hayate," Yuuno approached the bed and sat down next to her. "That was not a dream." She sat up immediately, eyes widening and words on the tip of her tongue. They were silenced as he grasped her shoulders in a firm grip. "Calm down and let me explain. Please, Hayate." She nodded slowly, not wanting her voice to betray her.

With careful words, Yuuno began explaining the situation to his childhood friend and the reasons behind not contacting her immediately. He did not allow her to ask questions yet, holding up a hand to stall her until he was finished. "...and that's our current plan of action."

Hayate felt conflicted. On the one hand, she wanted to slap him for not telling her immediately, despite understanding his reasons. On the other, she wanted to kiss him for what he was doing for them.

She settled for wrapping her arms around Yuuno and hugging him with everything she had. "Thank you, Yuuno... thank you."

Returning the hug, he smiled. "Don't thank me quite yet. There's still a lot to do."

"...Still" Hayate seemed like she wanted to say something else, but wasn't quite sure what.

"Would you like to meet her?"

"Yea. I'd like that." She nodded into Yuuno's shirt. It would be difficult, but now she would be ready. That is, ready as she ever could be in such a situation.

"Come on then." He broke the embrace and helped her off of the bed and took her to the door. Knocking on the door separating the bedroom from the rest of his home, he called out to Reinforce. "Reinforce, we're coming out."

Yuuno opened the door and Hayate stepped into the living room where Reinforce's computer was. For the second time that day, blood red met dark blue.

It was Reinforce who broke the silence. "I'm home, Mistress Hayate." Home is where the heart is and the heart is with family.

"Welcome home, Reinforce."


	5. Chapter 4

My thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this story. I hope to continue writing something enjoyable for you all. :)

Chapter 4 begins here. Standard disclaimers apply. Comments and criticisms are always welcome.

- Chapter Start -

The artificial sun within TSAB HQ was beginning to dip deep into the horizon as Hayate and Reinforce conversed animatedly. Their expressions ran nearly the whole spectrum of emotions from joy to sadness. On occasion, Yuuno would hear their laughter over a particularly amusing tale and it would bring a smile to his face. The exception being one particularly embarrassing tale involving himself and Hayate's earlier attempts at stuffing him into a costume. A loose thread catching on a door latch had left him feeling rather... exposed at a most inopportune moment.

Taking note of the time, Yuuno entered the computer room next to the dining room. He interrupted during a lull in the conversation. "Excuse me. But its getting late and I was wondering what you'd like for dinner, Hayate. I don't have a whole lot at the moment, but I can order take out if you'd rather have that."

"Oh! Its really that late already?" A surprised Hayate turned to look out the window and saw that it was indeed starting to darken outside. She took on a contemplative look, crossing her legs in the process.

"Well, you were out of it for six or so hours. I'm going to assume that your Knights know you're here?" When they'd first started this system, there had been a slight misunderstanding about which blonde friend Hayate had stayed with. That hadn't gone over very well, particularly in regards to Zafria. The man had discovered that his inner overprotective father instinct went the whole nine yards. He'd had actually acquired a shotgun when all four Knights had sat the librarian down to discuss the details.

The Shield Knight still had the weapon so far as Yuuno still knew.

"Mhm. I sent them a message while I was on my way over. Signum offered to come get me, but she sounded about as beat as I did so I told her to not worry and get some rest when she got home." She confirmed while recalling where the other three were. If she remembered correctly, Shamal was working a late shift at the hospital, Zafira was on a date with Arf, Zwei was with Signum, and Vita was working late with Nanoha. "I'll have to let them know about this pretty soon. I wonder if I can get tomorrow off and bring everyone over..."

"That would be most prudent, Mistress." Confirmed Reinforce with a nod.

"Now then, dinner. Hmm... What do you have, Yuuno?"

Adjusting his glasses, Yuuno went over a mental inventory of his kitchen. "Let's see... I've got some ground beef, salad fixings, pasta, tomato sauce, leftover stew..." There was probably more, but he was cut off.

"Lets do pasta! I haven't had that in ages." Exclaimed the now sparkly eyed brunette.

"Not since the thermite incident?" Reinforce raised an silver eyebrow at Yuuno's question.

"Thermite?" Reinforce could only begin to speculate as to what the link between pasta and thermite was.

"I'll tell you about it later, Reinforce." Hayate suppressed a wince as she recalled the aftermath of that particular venture. Needless to say that until Shamal managed to successfully prepare food that did not involve calling the hazmat team or the bomb squad to clean up the results, she wasn't going anywhere near a kitchen without strict supervision.

"Well I'd best get started then. You like meat sauce with your pasta, right?"

Nodding, Hayate stood. "Let me give you a hand. Do you mind, Reinforce?" While she wouldn't have minded continuing to talk with her long lost family member, she didn't want to continue taking advantage of Yuuno. He put her up for the night more often than not, was helping to bring Reinforce back to her family, and now making dinner. Helping out with the cooking was the least she could do, right?

The silver haired device shook her head. "I do not mind, Mistress. It only seems appropriate, considering all that he is doing for us. We can continue later."

Knowing better than to argue against the resolute look now on Hayate's face, Yuuno gave a chuckle before looking towards Reinforce's monitor. "Is there anything I can do for you before we get started, Reinforce?"

"I already have access to the files that I require, but may I ask something... unusual?" It was an odd sight to see a being who hosted such massive power fidget. At Yuuno's confused nod, she continued. "Would you turn the display so that I may see the two of you work?"

Yuuno blinked at the odd request while Hayate stifled a giggle. "Sure." After adjusting the monitor so that Reinforce could see into the kitchen, the lack of large walls making it a rather simple task, he went with the brunette to begin prepping dinner.

Reinforce watched silently as the two set to work. It was an interesting sight for the device. The wheelchair bound little girl whom she had last seen all those years ago, and never expected to see again, had grown up into a fine young woman. A commander in an inter-dimensional military and police force no less. Her movements spoke of confidence, power, and happiness with her place in life. No doubt being surrounded by such close friends and family had helped her grow up so well. It saddened Reinforce that she had not been a part of those times.

A peal of laughter broke the device out of her musings. It seemed that Yuuno's culinary skill shared some parallels with Knight Shamal's if the few tales she'd been told were accurate. Fortunately his mishaps seemed more humorous than explosive. As Reinforce watched her Mistress pluck the errant carrot slice off of the blonde's forehead and pop it into her mouth, she wondered just how close the two were.

Her Mistress had made no mention of any kind of romantic relationship thus far. Was it because she simply hadn't mentioned it or was there simply not one to begin with? She certainly seemed work driven and that would certainly make it difficult to find someone to form that kind of relationship with. Not to mention she already had a close family in the Wolkenritter.

A family she could be a part of again if everything went well... Reinforce's digital heart swelled in happiness at the prospect. The time she'd spent with everyone in the short span between the defeat of the defense program and her sealing had been some of the happiest memories she had. Watching Hayate play with Nanoha and Fate. Mealtime with the Knights and her Mistress' cooking. Even being groped in the bath was a pleasant memory.

She was looking forward to seeing everyone again and being able to meet her... daughter? if the term properly applied. That would certainly be an interesting meeting owing to the how the device had come to be. Was she the mother? Was her Mistress the mother? Hayate had only briefly mentioned that Zwei was born from both hers and Reinforce's linker core information, not going into great detail.

A large cloud of steam caught Reinforce's attention as Yuuno drained the large pot of spaghetti through a colander. The steam fogged his glasses, which Hayate cleared up with a dish towel so that he could see again. There was a synergy between the two that indicated they'd done this before. It was in the way they moved around each other, a familiarity of situation. The device wondered if either had this kind of rapport with anyone else.

A slightly puzzled look graced her features as she watched Yuuno grab hold of a small folding table. Hauling it into the computer room, the librarian cleared some space and set it up next to the desk where Reinforce's display was placed.

"You didn't think we were going to leave you alone while we ate, did you?" A smile was on Yuuno's face as he took note of Reinforce's mild confusion.

The thought hadn't actually crossed her mind until he'd mentioned it. "While I am yet unable to partake of a meal, I thank you for your consideration."

"Its no problem, Reinforce. Between you and me, I think Hayate's already got something planned for when we get you out of there." He nodded before going off to grab a pair of chairs.

As he did so, Hayate maneuvered around to bring the steaming plates of dinner to the table. "No spoiling the surprise, Yuuno!" She admonished in a teasing tone.

"Yes, dear." Yuuno replied with mock irritation from the kitchen, eliciting a giggle from the brunette.

Eventually the two were seated and with a word of thanks, digging in. For most of the meal, the three made small talk. A few interesting topics came up, including the absurdity of Hayate's day at work and the horrors of the internet according to Reinforce. As a lull in conversation came about when the plates had mostly been emptied, the silver haired device poked at a subject that had been gnawing at her subconscious while watching her MIstress and Yuuno interact.

"Pardon the rudeness, Mistress, but I have a question."

"What's up?"

Reinforce squashed the urge to fidget. It was an action that she'd been doing rather often since her discovery and it was becoming irritating. She glanced at Yuuno and decided to wait on that particular subject, opting to deflect her attention to another concern. One that probably should have been of higher priority considering her past. "I... am curious as to what we are going to do about the authorities."

"You mean the issue about your connection to the defense program, right?" Clarified the commander, to which Reinforce nodded.

Yuuno seemed to come to a horrifying realization as to what exactly would happen if high command found out about Reinforce. His eyes widened and his fork slipped from suddenly numb fingers. Fortunately the utensil fell back onto the plate with a clank.

Hayate waved her hands in a placating manner to both of them. "Don't worry, I've got an idea. Not the greatest idea, mind you, but an idea nonetheless." A self satisfied smile graced her features as both device and librarian looked to her with hope in their eyes. "Yuuno, you and I worked together to make Zwei. What's to say you haven't found something new that would let us make another Unison Device and I'm commissioning your work?"

"That. That could work." Yuuno's mouth began to work again. "Its a big gamble that could end horribly, but it could work."

"Is that not that illegal, Mistress?" Reinforce asked carefully.

Shaking her head, Hayate continued. "Actually no. Officially, this is just the commissioning of a new device. Plus, the two of us are known to have the most legitimate expertise with Unison Devices so it shouldn't raise too many questions. We can also say that Reinforce 'Drei' is intended for Yuuno, who well known to not own a Device himself."

The brunette's words calmed Yuuno's nerves as the logic assuaged his concerns. "They may ask where I got the data and why I'm building a device after all this time. Also, why I'm building it myself and why a Unison Device of all things... But those are fairly easy to deal with. This just leaves the damaged code to work on and making sure my spell theory pans out."

It was rather amazing to Reinforce, just how quickly her Mistress had thought up how to deal with what was likely their greatest external foe and how well Yuuno had adapted to that plan. She wasn't too fond of the name 'Drei' though.

"I can't help you with the actual spellwork or coding, but I can make sure that no one bothers you." Hayate's confidence was infectious.

The fact that they were trying to revive a woman of mass destruction didn't bother them in the slightest if it really even crossed their minds. To them, they were bringing back a friend and family member with failure being wholly unacceptable.

A chime from Yuuno's antique clock broke through their discussion. Noting the time, both commander and librarian realized just how late it was. While Hayate wasn't as tired owing to her impromptu nap from earlier in the day, she still had work in the morning. Yuuno, on the other hand, had been working for almost the entire day and was ready to collapse onto his bed.

Still, dinner had to be cleaned up and the dishes washed. He forced himself to make sure that dishes were always done after eating owing to the last time he'd been negligent. Cleaning dishes wasn't supposed to involve duels with fungus armed with knives and forks.

As he was standing to take the dishes, Hayate stopped him. "I'll take care of this. You're starting to look more beat than I did when I got here."

"You sure?" It was a hesitant question.

She began pushing him towards the bathroom, "Yes, yes. Now go wash up and get to bed, Yuuno. Failure to comply to your Lady Hayate's wishes shall result in punishment." She finished with a wink.

"Alright, I give." Surrendering to his close friend's wishes with a laugh, Yuuno allowed himself to be corralled into the bathroom.

Hearing the shower start up, Hayate nodded to herself and proceeded to gather up the remnants of dinner and take them to the sink. While the brunette was going about her self appointed task, Reinforce pondered about their plan. It was certainly risky and there were dangerous obstacles ahead of them. While still a little apprehensive, she would believe in her Mistress and in Yuuno.

Still, the device wanted to ask about the relationship between the two. There was certainly something there, unless she was misinterpreting what she saw. Deciding that if she was going to ask about it, now was the best chance. "Mistress. There is something that I am curious about, if you do not mind my inquiring."

Since there was only dishes from two people, cleaning up had been quick and easy. Hayate had just turned off the water and was drying her hands when Reinforce called out to her. "What is it, Reinforce?" She approached the display and sat down.

"I hope that I am not too rude in asking, but what is your relationship with Yuuno Scrya?" There, she'd asked it. Reinforce could only hope that her Mistress did not take offense.

Blinking, Hayate seemed a little confused by the device's question. Though the slight pink tinge to her cheeks did not go unnoticed. "Why would you ask something like that?" Her voice had an odd tilt to it when she responded.

"I had not noticed it until I saw the both of you in the kitchen, but there is a... closeness between you and Yuuno, Mistress."

"Well, we are childhood friends and we do work together often... Plus he lets me stay over when I'm too tired to drive all the way home or when the Knights aren't home." The blush was beginning to rise.

Reinforce's ruby eyes narrowed slightly. "That sounds perhaps a bit closer than childhood friends... Do you not find Yuuno attractive? Is there a problem with his personality? From what I have been able to discern, he is a good man who would make a most desirable companion."

While superb in the field of offense, Hayate's defenses were not quite at the same level. "I, that is, well..." She stuttered at Reinforce's sudden offense, trying to regain her bearings. "Why are you asking this anyway? He's a good, close friend. That's all."

Reinforce didn't seem all too convinced. What was the saying she'd heard before? 'Methinks the Lady doth protest too much'? "I am simply concerned about your well being, Mistress. Your future prospects is a part of that."

The sound of a door opening interrupted Hayate's response. From the bathroom stepped Yuuno, clad only in dark green pajama pants and his long blonde hair loose. A thin sheen of moisture from the hot shower clung to his skin as steam emanated from the beyond the doorframe. It would seem that the sparring sessions with friends and moving of heavy tomes at the library had done Yuuno quite the favor in keeping him rather fit. Hayate swallowed audibly as she laid eyes upon the man.

"Bathroom's all yours, Hayate. Sorry, but I'll probably be out like a light by the time you're done. If I don't see you before you leave for work, have a good day." He spoke with a smile.

The brunette's blush only intensified as he ruffled her hair slightly and said his good nights to her and Reinforce. When Yuuno had left for the spare bedroom he insisted on using whenever anyone stayed over, Reinforce couldn't help but take a jab at her Mistress' flustered state. "Perhaps a cold shower is in order?"

"I am going to give you such a groping."

"Myself or Yuuno?" Teasing was rather fun, noted Reinforce.

To her credit, Hayate managed to stifle the trickle of blood from her nose before it got on the carpet.


	6. Chapter 5

Yet another one off the presses. This chapter went through a lot of editing to get here and I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 5 begins here. Standard disclaimers apply. Comments and criticisms are always welcome.

- Chapter Start -

It had been a week since Hayate's visit to Yuuno's home and her reunion with Reinforce. So far, the plan had gone over rather well. Her superiors had indeed questioned the young commander about the origins of the information supposedly discovered by Professor Scrya soon after the paperwork for 'Drei' had been filed. There was also another matter that had to be addressed, namely concerns about the project. One of their biggest was the potential failure of the Unison Device.

That potential failure covered so many areas that it was almost mind-boggling to anyone not familiar with the history of Unison Devices. Unison Devices were not like Storage Devices. They are their own person with likes, dislikes, morals, and beliefs. An AI in a Storage Device could be programmed and reprogrammed to be agreeable to their master, but a Unison Device could not. To bond with a Unison Device required time and trust between Master and Device. Even then, success was not guaranteed.

Intelligent Devices carried similar weight when being compared to a Unison Device, but that was not the issue at hand.

In addition to the device's individuality, was the matter of a takeover. A Unison Device that was so inclined and powerful enough could take full command of a mage's body, using it however they desired and with all of the mage's power at their fingertips. The potential devastation was immense, particularly if it happened to one of the TSAB's more powerful mages.

Whether or not the Unison Device's ideals went contradictory to those of the TSAB was enough of a given that it remained unsaid. If 'Drei' proved to be antagonistic, the order would be given to contain her or, in a worst case scenario, terminate her.

Assuming the best situation came to be and a Unison Device proved to have established a mutual trust with their Lord, was in line with the best interests of the TSAB, and was an asset to the organization, there was the issue of cost.

That cost came about primarily from the development of a Linker Core. Unison Devices had such organs and they were not something that could not be developed artificially from scratch. They required immense time and effort, not to mention the proper resources, to properly create. If it had been so easy, then Reinforce Zwei would not have been the first Unison Device to have been successfully created since the time of Ancient Belka.

While Hayate had been able to convince her superiors that the project was not only privately funded, and that steps were being put into place to ensure a successful bonding, she'd had to feed them some bits of information about what Yuuno had "discovered". It was only enough to ensure compliancy and not enough to link 'Drei' to Eins. The commander claimed that It mostly involved information gleaned from revisiting project notes from the creation of Zwei. It wasn't uncommon for someone to notice something new or make previously unknown connections after seeing it again after so long.

The creation of Zwei had posed its own set of problems, lack of skill in the participants involved being the most obvious. Hence why the Unison Device had taken two years to create. This time though, they had a different challenge. One unique to Reinforce Eins. That was the defense program. Yuuno was still pouring over Belkan tomes in the hopes of finding something he could use. He had considered using data from Zwei to compensate for Eins' damage, but ultimately rejected it. According to him, Eins' condition was less like someone who had lost an arm in an accident and more like someone who never had one in the first place. There was no viable base to start fixing the damage from.

While that was troubling, she took pleasure in the fact that the mana transfer spell was apparently working as planned. Yuuno had finished the spell five days ago and had completed adjustments just yesterday. It had taken quite a bit of research into magical medicine and some discreet inquiries about magical exhaustion to fine tune, but the spell was now allowing the librarian to supply Reinforce with the mana needed.

Right now, Hayate was in her office working on a report while waiting for her Knights to arrive. She had wanted to explain the situation involving Reinforce Eins while all members of the Wolkenritter were present and today was the first time she'd been able to manage it since then.

A knock on the door brought the brunette's attention away from her computer terminal. "Come in," she called out.

The door swung open to reveal her family. A smile broke out on her face as they entered her office. She noted Vita seemed a little singed around the edges, which the redhead noticed. "Training with Nanoha. Managed to get her into a high power match after we finished with the brats." A satisfied grin was on the Hammer Knight's lips and Hayate swore that Graf Eisen was glowing.

With a chuckle, Hayate gestured to the chairs in her office. "Sit down everyone. I have some important news for you all and I wanted to wait until everyone was here." The Wolkenritter did so, with Zwei sitting atop Shamal's shoulder.

There was a brief pause which seemed to raise the tension a little bit. Signum raised an elegant eyebrow. Perhaps this had to do with why her Lady had been so energetic as of late. The General of Fire couldn't help but link it to her stay at Yuuno's residence a week ago.

While she should have been more serious about it, the commander couldn't resist such an opportunity to tease her Knights. With a beatific smile, she dropped the bomb. "We're going to have a new addition to the family soon. Rein, thanks to Yuuno, you are officially going to have a little sister."

You could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed and it took every bit of self control Hayate had to not burst out laughing when the inevitable pandemonium broke loose.

Signum blinked as her brain tried to process every word in that declaration. While the brain was actually doing its job, her body was more in line with Vita and Zafira's. The three had almost immediately shot to their feet with a shout, wanting to know exactly when this had happened and why they hadn't been told. Though the Shield Knight seemed more keen on finding the ferret and making use of that shotgun than finding the details.

Zwei seemed ecstatic at the news, if the squeal of joy was any indication.

Shamal however, seemed to have frozen in place. After a few moments though, she shot flat look at Hayate who only smiled more broadly. She'd probably find it more amusing later, but at the moment, not so much.

"Shamal, if you would give us some privacy?" The request came as Vita became more vocal in her surprise. "I'd rather not have anyone overhear a family matter." The field was up in moments, cutting off any outgoing sound.

Outside the office door, in mid-knock, was a certain bespectacled brunette with long hair. Her face was a combination of shock and giddiness. Shario Finieno, or Shari as some knew her, was a supremely skilled engineer to everyone who had heard of her and somewhat of a mischievous gossip to those who were closer. What she'd overheard at that moment was simply too delicious a story to keep contained. It was only the sudden silencing of the raucous noise caused by the Wolkenritter's response that stopped her from staying to listen for more details. Likely some kind of privacy field had been set up by Shamal.

With nothing to stop her and no one the wiser to her presence, Shari was off like a shot to spread the word. A tale of hidden passions and a secret child already worming its way through her excited mind. The reports in her other hand were forgotten as she rushed off.

Wholly ignorant of the eavesdropping individual, the General of Fire's mind latched onto a specific part of her Lady's statement. Narrowing her eyes, Signum cut through the chaos before Zafira could leave and inflict grievous bodily harm upon the Head Librarian. "You said 'officially', Hayate. What did you mean by that?"

Hayate's smile remained, but it had taken on a more serious look. "Everyone, calm down and no hunting for Yuuno." Those present did so, but Zafira still looked a bit twitchy as he retook his seat. As he did so, Hayate did a quick scan of the room to double check for any monitoring devices. She'd checked earlier, but it never hurt to be safe.

Now came the truth of the matter. "We are still gaining a new member to the family thanks to Yuuno. But she's not so new as you may think." With a firm tone, she continued. "Have you heard any mention of the project that Yuuno and I are working on?"

"I heard from Arf that Scrya was finally getting his own device, but nothing else." That line of thought seemed to have calmed Zafira's frayed nerves.

Nodding, Hayate continued. "Officially, that device is a Unison Device. On paper, it is referred to as Reinforce Drei. Unofficially, that device is Reinforce Eins. The same one who was Zwei's predecessor and linked to the corrupted Defense Program." Holding up a hand to stall any questions, her blue eyes became even more stern. "The Defense Program has been completely separated from Eins and according to her, utterly destroyed. Yuuno confirmed this. As of now, she is existing within a computer at a mere fraction of her former power. A plan has been designed and set into motion to bring her back to us."

The reactions to the clarification were more subdued for the most part.

Vita's expression was one of mixed anger and confusion. She hadn't had much of a chance to try an bury the hatchet with Reinforce before her apparent death and there still existed harsh feelings on the redhead's side about the woman and their history of hatred. Would she really have a chance to try and make peace again?

"He's absolutely certain of this? The Defense Program is really gone?" Shamal seemed apprehensive, and rightfully so. It was the corruption that had inflicted such pain into their lives and nearly stole Hayate from them.

"Yuuno's spent the last week with her, going over everything he can to make certain that Reinforce's revival won't bring back the corruption. So far, things are looking good," reassured Hayate.

"He does have access to materials that weren't available before... But, still. How did she survive?" The question posed by Zafira left an odd expression on his Lady's face.

Signum nodded. "Reinforce was supposed to have perished with the Defense Program all those years ago. While I am glad for a second chance, it it still worrisome."

"Apparently, our procedure had some flaws in it and had unexpected results." Folding her hands under her chin, Hayate placed her elbows on the desk. "What the sealing did was literally carve the corrupted Defense Program out of Reinforce. Without her regenerative abilities, the program wound up trying to assimilate other data to repair itself. She said that something called a 'Creeper' destroyed it for good and since then, she's been trying to get back in contact with us in a severely weakened state."

Vita saw both the seriousness in the situation and the humor apparently known only to her. She snorted in her attempt to cover up the laughter.

"Vita! This is serious," admonished Shamal.

"You're telling us that the big bad Defense Program got taken out for good, by a freaking Creeper! Oh Kaiser, that's rich!" It took a minute for the redhead to stop laughing. It didn't help that she was the only one present who was in the know.

It was interesting, the things she overheard from her students. That included a particular computer game a few of them found amusing. Sating curiosities about that game and its potential effects on her charges had lasted a full night. It was only after racking up a sizable kill count of the creatures from the battlements of 'Festung Eisen' that she swore off the game and banned her students from playing it, claiming it to be too much of a time sink when they could be training instead.

Zwei's hopeful question brought everyone out of their musings. "Can we meet Mommy soon?" That brought everyone's attention to Hayate, who smiled warmly.

"If everything goes well, then yes. But if you'd like to meet her sooner, I can call up Yuuno and see if he can arrange it. Just remember that we can't let anyone know about Eins."

Reinforce Zwei's smile practically lit up the room.

"I would like to accompany you, Rein," intoned Signum, "Would you mind?"

"Nuh-uh. The more the merrier. When can we go?" The Unison Device flitted around before seating herself on the General of Fire's shoulder.

"If Yuuno is available, I would like to meet when our shift ends." The pinkette looked towards her Lady for confirmation.

Nodding, Hayate leaned back in her chair. "I'll call him and ask if he's free."

"I'd join ya, but I've got a bunch of leftover paperwork to deal with." Vita noted with a disgusted tone. While that was indeed true, everyone knew that the Iron Hammer Knight simply didn't seem ready to meet face to face with a person with whom such bad blood flowed between. it was not an issue anyone was going to push.

Shamal shook her head apologetically. "I still have time to cover on my shift at the hospital, so I'll have to pass for now. Sorry."

Zafira was the one who opted to end the family gathering. "Speaking of work, we'd best get back to it or we're not going to have time for anything later on. Besides, I think we've all got quite a bit to digest."

That seemed to be the signal for a knock at the door. "We'll talk more later, okay? And either Yuuno or I will give you a call about visiting, Signum, Rein," Hayate informed the duo as everyone stood up to leave. Shamal canceling the privacy field as she did so. Vita looked like she had a few questions come to mind, but refrained from voicing them at the time.

Zafira was first to the door and opened it for the remaining Wolkenritter, only to see a grinning and slightly out of breath Shari with a stack of papers. Had she just run here? "Ms. Finiero?" Everyone present seemed to have gone slightly on edge at her presence despite there being no way for the woman to have overheard their conversation due to Hayate's spell. It was more of a reflex than anything.

Both parties seemed to want for the other to make the first move. It was Shari who did so. "I've got the reports on Section Six's devices, Commander. Everything is in tip-top shape and running smoothly. Which you likely already knew, but now you've got the papers confirming it." Her words sounded a little off, like she was holding something in, but gave no indication she knew anything. Vita reached over and took the offered papers.

As the Iron Hammer Knight deposited the reports on Hayate's desk, the commander looked to Shari. "Thank you, Shario. That's good to know. Is there anything else?"

"Nope! You take it easy Commander, can't have you overworking yourself, now can we?" With a wave, the smiling Shari was off, leaving six slightly confused individuals behind. After a mass shrug, the Wolkenritter said their farewells and returned to their respective duties.

A minute later, Hayate's attention was drawn to the door by a series of knocks. "Wonder who it is now?" Surprisingly, it was Shari again. "Forget something?" The words came with a raised eyebrow as it seemed that the woman's smile hadn't dimmed in the slightest.

"I did forget to say something earlier."

"Hmm?" There was a quizzical look about the brunette.

"Congratulations on the baby." With that, Shari hastily retreated from the office.

For the next few minutes, Hayate seemed to have taken on attributes reminiscent of a statue as she processed what her subordinate had just said. When her brain managed to regain proper function, the commander sent out a very loud telepathic summons to the bespectacled brunette only to receive no reply. Either Shari had gotten out of range or was intentionally not picking up.

Recalling Shari's penchant for gossip, Hayate held her head in her hands and sighed. "This is not going to end well."


	7. Chapter 6

Gets a bit steamy in here, nothing explicit though.

Chapter 6 begins here. Standard disclaimers apply. Comments and criticisms are always welcome.

- Chapter Start -

While Yuuno Scrya was hard at work, blissfully unaware of the events that had transpired a few hours ago, Fate T. Harlaown was arriving at TSAB HQ after a particularly irritating off-world investigation. It wasn't so much that the case was difficult, but more the fact that everyone involved seemed to go out of their way to make things difficult. The beautiful blonde's legendary patience had been tried, but ultimately held, and the case solved.

Right now, Fate was looking forward to catching up with her friends after two weeks away on the fringes of TSAB territory. All she had to do was file the copies of her investigation, fill out a few forms, and she was free for the day. Perhaps she could catch Hayate or Nanoha on break and they could grab a late lunch.

It was when she entered the building that she noticed something seemed off. Small groups of people were talking in hushed tones to each other as they went about their duties. While gossip tended to run rampant in the office during peacetime, it never got this bad. Whatever the case may be, Fate decided to leave it alone for now. Only if she discovered that it involved her or her friends would she get directly involved.

She had quashed more than a few rumors in her time, some more nonsensical than others. One particularly absurd rumor she'd derailed had been between her brother, and Yuuno. The details of that tall tale still brought a flush to her cheeks.

As Fate neared her office, after having passed numerous chattering groups, she had decided that enough was enough. She approached a young man who bore the insignia of a Junior Enforcer and addressed him. "Pardon me, Detective."

The amused expression he had been directing towards the lady at his side as they chatted immediately vanished upon turning his head to see who wanted his attention. Snapping to attention, his companion did the same immediately after. "Sorry, Captain Harlaown. What can I do for you?"

"At ease, both of two." Fate's posture remained stern, even if her voice did not. "I would appreciate it, if you would tell me what has the office in such an uproar. I take it that this is another product of our infamous rumor mill?"

Both officers relaxed a little and it was the woman who answered her, albeit somewhat hesitantly. "Yes, ma'am. Apparently, Commander Yagami is in a secret relationship with Yuuno Scrya, the Head Librarian."

Fate's shoulders slumped slightly as she sighed, bringing a free hand to her forehead in exasperation. "Please tell me that's all." It wasn't uncommon for relationship rumors to be floating around involving the members of Section Six. Such stories usually popped up every other week on average and ran their course in a few days. It did not explain, however, why this rumor had caused such an uproar.

"Seems that Commander Yagami is pregnant with Scrya's kid," stated the man bluntly, earning a smack from the woman. "Ow! Hey, the Captain asked."

"Tact, you dumbass!" she admonished before turning back to her superior, only to see the blonde had gone slightly wide-eyed at the declaration. "Captain?"

"Explain what you heard," demanded Fate in a serious tone of voice. She would get whatever information she could and then talk to Hayate directly. This was one rumor that had to be cleared up quickly.

The female detective sighed. "Shario Finiero was delivering some reports to Commander Yagami when she overheard the Commander telling her Knights that there was a baby on the way and that Mr. Scrya was the father."

The moment Shari's name passed the detective's lips, Fate knew that squashing this rumor would be difficult. Shari's rumors tended to spread rapidly and have a great deal of staying power, regardless of how true or untrue it may be. It wasn't uncommon for one of the engineer's tales to reach even the furthest reaches of HQ in a matter of hours and last for a couple weeks. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, the blonde dismissed both officers with a warning to stop spreading such tales.

With swift footsteps, Fate traversed the remaining distance to her office and plopped down into the comfort of her chair. Only once the report found its new home in the filing cabinet next to the desk did Fate allow herself to melt into the padded comforts of the relaxing chair. Despite how much she'd like to take it easy for the first time in weeks, she knew that her friend's situation needed clearing up.

Calling up Hayate on her private line, Fate waited for a response while wondering just what exactly had caused such a situation. It didn't take long for the brunette commander's visage to appear on the screen. "Fate! Its good to see you again. When did you get back?" spoke a clearly happy Hayate.

"Not too long ago. Its good to be back. Although I'm more looking forward to sleeping in a proper bed." Fate smiled as she imagined just how comfortable the bed back home would be.

"I can believe that. You'd think with the budget they get nowadays, the Navy would at least have decent beds onboard."

With a softening of her expression, Fate brought forth her worries. "Hayate, do you want to talk about the rumor going around? The one about you and Yuuno."

Hayate almost visibly deflated at the blonde's words. An expression of irritation and exasperation on her features. "You heard that already, huh? Yea, I'll tell you the whole story but we should get Nanoha into the loop as well. Don't want her going after Yuuno with Raising Heart. We all know how that'll end." She finished with a knowing grin, eliciting a giggle from Fate.

"Indeed," responded Fate with a smile. "Should we meet at your office, or...?"

Shaking her head, Hayate gave a exaggeratedly grim expression. "Not here, I need to get away from these rumor mongers. No one believes me when I say that I'm not eating for two and it's starting to get on my nerves. Shamal can vouch for me, but that would ruin their fun. I think its revenge for the groping." No doubt by now, the Wolkenritter had heard of the rumor. If they were trying to squash the rumor, they either weren't doing a very good job of it or were simply taking their time as a form of familial revenge for the scare she gave them or the groping. Maybe a bit of both. It was her fault that Shari had a rumor to spread anyway.

At the very least, Hayate just confirmed that the more troubling portion of the rumor was false. "Well, it is one of Shari's rumors." Fate gave a sympathetic look to her childhood friend. "And you do tend to get a bit... grabby," noted the blonde with a cautious look.

"One of these days I'm going to take a page out of Nanoha's book and give her a befriending like no other," muttered Hayate. She would not deny that her method of showing affection was rather... unorthodox. "I can't help it! It's just... Ngaaa!" Her grabby hand motions and wail of despair brought a demure chuckle from Fate. Not even Hayate could really put into proper words why she groped people. It was just... part of who she was, much to the embarrassment of her 'victims'. There was, however, a credible theory that groping was her method of stress relief. Whenever stress was running high, Hayate tended to get more grabby than usual.

It took a bit of time for the commander to compose herself and get back to the issue at hand. "Anyways. I'd rather not talk about it here. The three of us should meet up for dinner somewhere and I'll explain most of the situation there."

"Alright, how does seven at the Cehack Cafe sound? Its been a while since we've been there," suggested Fate. She noted that her friend said 'most of the situation'. Apparently there was part of the explanation that was not meant to be accidentally overheard.

"Seven sounds good. Would you get ahold of Nanoha then? I've got to call my kids and let them know," replied Hayate. Her pet name for the Wolkenritter always brought up amusing images to anyone who heard it. Fate often imagined her friend walking child versions of the Knights to kindergarten while pushing Vita and Rein along in a double stroller. Little Signum would always be swinging around a foam sword, proclaiming herself as 'Mama's Knight' while Zafira carried a wolf plushie in his backpack.

Snapping out of her reverie, Fate nodded. "Certainly. I'll see you tonight then?"

"Tonight it is! See you tonight and drive safe as always." With a wave, the commander's image vanished from the screen.

That certainly went better than expected. However right now, she had a call to make. If she remembered correctly, Nanoha would still be in the process of drilling her students on the finer points of combat right about now. Fate decided to leave her a message requesting a prompt return call and a caution against any strange rumors she may have heard.

Since she had nothing but time on her hands at the moment, Fate opted to get those last few forms filled out for case processing. As her fingers flowed over the keyboard, the blonde captain began to ponder the situation that Hayate was in. While she certainly denied being with child, and Fate believed her, she made no mention of denying a relationship with Yuuno. Most people would simply have not noticed the lack of denial in favor of the more important piece of information, Fate was an Enforcer and a damn good one at that.

Being an Enforcer of notable skill meant that she had an extraordinary eye for detail. When someone said something, she heard all of it and catalogued every word. Now normally, these details were nothing to really pay attention to and wound up filed away with the rest of the conversation. This time, Fate was still somewhat in what Nanoha had dubbed, 'Detective-Mode'. That little lack of denial wound up stuck in the blonde's head as she shifted further away from her Enforcer mindset and she began to ponder what Hayate's life would be like if she were indeed in a romantic relationship with Yuuno.

It started off innocently enough. Yuuno bashfully asking Hayate out on a date with a single flower in hand. Her accepting with a slight flush to her cheeks and a smile on her face. A walk through the park, hand in hand, with Yuuno carrying a picnic basket in his free hand and the flower from earlier in placed delicately in Hayate's hair. The sun above, dancing merrily. Their eyes would dance with mirth and happiness as they ate Hayate's delicious home cooking, sandwiches, salad, and finished off with tea.

They would lay on the blanket spread over the soft, green grass, gazing up at the clouds, occasionally guessing as to what one might be. After a time, the couple would gather their things and continue their walk, this time down a cobblestone path lined with red and yellow leaved trees. Eventually a cool breeze would blow by and Hayate would shiver slightly. Yuuno would wrap his jacket around her shoulders, pulling Hayate close to keep her warm as a tinge of red adorned their features.

He would escort her home to the safety and company of her family, the Knights welcoming their Mistress home with open arms. Yuuno would be invited inside, his chivalry and designs on Hayate questioned by Signum, Vita, and Zafira while Shamal and Rein giggled and blushed at Hayate's tales of the day. After a time, Yuuno's intentions would be declared pure and the Wolkenritter would permit him to court their Mistress. He would thank them and embrace Hayate, planting a chaste kiss upon her lips.

The scene shifted as Fate's imagination continued to run further and further from her control. The loving couple were now in Yuuno's home, the lights dimmed and a small table covered in checkered cloth had replaced the large coffee table that normally stood in the living room. They sat across from each other, features illuminated only by candle light as they gazed lovingly into one another's eyes. The remnants of dinner set aside joined by a pair of empty wine glasses. A glint of gold shone on their ring fingers.

They sat there, talking with each other softly and whispering sweet nothings as the candles burned down slowly. Soon those whisperings were joined by gentle touches and those by feather kisses. Yuuno and Hayate were no longer at the small table, their kisses and touches becoming more impassioned as they neared the threshold of the bedroom. The occasional article of clothing marking their passage.

Then both were on the bed, clad in nothing more that the flesh they were born in. Their bodies entangled and covered in perspiration, flushed from blissful exertion. Movement was gentle, wild, and everything in between as the two lovers sought to bring the greatest pleasure to each other. Their tongues danced about, tasting and savoring the body of the other whilst hands reached out to take hold and never let go. Hair had come loose from the bindings that held it, splaying upon the sheets beneath. Though exhaustion threatened to end their time, neither would give in, so entranced in their passion as they were.

Eventually though, their intertwining bodies gave in to their mortal limits and blissfully strained musculature gave way to a final release. Basking in the afterglow as the morning sun began to illuminate the horizon, Yuuno embraced Hayate tightly and both fell to slumber.

In the real world, Fate's face had turned a color of red previously unheard of in human beings. "What. What was that?" she asked to no one in a breathless voice. Fate knew she had an overactive imagination, but this was ridiculous.

Still try as she might to banish them, the images continued to rampage around her mind. On occasion, the people involved might be different. A few iterations replaced Hayate with Nanoha. Some had Signum. More than a few had herself in Hayate's place. Then came other combinations. Nanoha with Hayate. Herself with Nanoha. Herself with Signum. Herself with Hayate AND Nanoha. Herself, Yuuno, and Hayate was another. The final blow came when the images managed to land on one massive 'gathering' consisting of the ladies of Section Six, Yuuno, Lindy, Raising Heart, and Bardiche.

"SIR, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Bardiche's deep, mechanical voice finally managed to bring Fate out of the erotic trappings her mind had made.

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine Bardiche. Thank you," she replied with an unsteady voice.

"ARE YOU CERTAIN, SIR?" He sounded somewhat unconvinced, despite speaking in perfect monotone.

Nodding to the device's confirmation request, the blonde swallowed the lump in her throat. "I'm fine, don't worry."

"AS YOU WISH. SIR." The golden triangle went silent.

One could have lit a cigar with Fate's face at that moment. Her hair was frazzled and the uniform felt far too hot. Glancing away from the computer screen she'd barely been paying attention to, the blonde noted that the air conditioning was set to a relatively cool temperature. Sighing, Fate did her best to calm down while mentally cursing the TSAB's rumor mill and her own imagination.

When Fate looked at her display to finish off the report, she squeaked. There on the screen was page upon page of her delusions, typed away in the 'Comments' section of her report. Those curses became a bit more intense as she deleted the smut, trying not to read what she had unknowingly written, and actually attempted to fill out the form properly.

It was about half an hour later that a call came in. A very welcome call as it turned out to be as Fate recognized the incoming identifier. "Nanoha, its good to see you again."

"Heya, Fate! I thought you were going to call me when you disembarked," pouted the long haired brunette.

"Sorry about that. Some things came up," apologized Fate with a smile. It was good to see Nanoha again. Out of everyone, she was probably closest to the brunette and still lived with both her and Vivio. "Which is part of the reason why I wanted you to call me back so soon."

"You mean the story about Hayate having a bun in the oven or the one about your brother trying to seduce Admiral Leti while drunk?" Nanoha's pout had turned into a cat-like grin. She seemed to think the whole thing was rather amusing.

Fate's expression was priceless. On the one hand, Nanoha seemed to be taking the rumor for humor value more than anything else. On the other, there was the previously unknown rumor involving Chrono. A myriad of conflicting emotions collided and left the result all over the blonde's face.

"Nyahahaha!" laughed Nanoha over the vid-line. "You should see the look on your face, Fate. I wish I had a camera." Shooing away the laughter till it was nothing more than a grin on her face, the brunette continued. "I pegged that one as fake from the get-go. If they were that far into a relationship, I think they would have mentioned something by now. Chrono, however..."

"If he's not in a body cast, then its likely fake," noted Fate with a kind of resigned amusement. "In any event, Hayate wanted the three of us to meet for dinner so we could talk about a few things. Including the story behind that rumor."

Nanoha nodded. "I can do that. Vivio's staying the night at Lutecia's place, so just let me know when and where."

"Seven o'clock at Cehack's Cafe." It really was a nice place to eat and their homemade moon pies were to die for.

"Seven... got it! I'll see you there. I'd love to chat more, but I've got a few more newbies who need to lose their training wheels." With a wave and a wink, the White Devil was off.

"I hope she doesn't terrify them too badly," spoke Fate to herself as she closed the communications display. She took notice of the time and saw that she still had two hours till she had to meet her friends. "May as well check my messages..."

Elsewhere, the door to a residence opened in response to a solid trio of knocks. The opened door revealed a man in his mid twenties with longish blonde hair and wire-frame glasses. Yuuno looked at his visitors with a smile. "Signum, Rein, I've been expecting you. Come on in."


	8. Chapter 7

For those of you curious, Chrono will be making an appearance at some point. I haven't forgotten about him. This chapter went through some much needed revision and my thanks goes to the wonderful people on the Animesuki board.

Chapter 7 begins here. Standard disclaimers apply. Comments and criticisms are always welcome.

- Chapter Start -

Accepting the invitation from Yuuno, Signum and Zwei entered the man's home. To Signum, who had been here before, quite a bit had changed since her last visit. It was actually quite a mess now that she took a better look. Charts lined the walls with myriad equations, code, and symbols on them. Tomes and datapads were strewn about. To top it all off, there was a stack of unopened mail and boxes shoved into a corner by the door.

"If I did not know the cause, I would reprimand you most seriously for living like this," spoke Signum evenly as Yuuno took her coat and hung it on the rack. She noticed that Zwei was trying to contain herself and doing a successful job so far. Both females removed their shoes and set them next to Yuuno's.

"Sorry about that. With everything that's been going on, I haven't had a chance to keep things organized. At least the kitchen is clean." He was looking rather unkempt himself, his normally bound hair was sticking out in places and there appeared to be dark circles under his eyes. Yuuno turned to Zwei and took her coat as well, seeing that she had taken on her full sized form rather than the compact form she normally used.

"I also believe that I told you to take up a hobby." A single pink eyebrow rose in a questioning look. The tease more implied than intoned.

Rubbing the back of his head, Yuuno let out a small laugh. "That you did..."

A slightly awkward silence descended that was broken by Zwei's soft voice. "Daddy, can I meet Mommy now?" While being born with a copy of Eins' memories and personality, Zwei was still her own individual and somewhat of a child even to this day. Shamal had once theorized that had Eins been a normal, human girl in her earlier years, she probably would have acted like Zwei.

Blinking at being called 'Daddy', Yuuno filed it away for later. Right now, he had family to reintroduce. "Sure, Zwei. Come on." He looked to Signum, his actions asking if she was coming as well.

"I will wait in the kitchen. I wish to speak with you beforehand and I... do not wish to interrupt. Zwei, it will be alright," spoke Signum before placing a comforting hand on the short girl's shoulder. The pinkette then began attempting the hazardous trek from the front door to the safety of the kitchen. At one point, she was almost certain that one of the books tried to nip at her heels. Considering the kinds of objects that Yuuno regularly dealt with, it was not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

As Signum made the dangerous journey, Zwei reached out and took Yuuno's hand. Despite all her vigor and desire to meet Eins, there was still a strong nervousness sitting inside her. It would be her first real meeting with one of the two women who gave her life.

"It'll be alright, Zwei, just like Signum said." He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "She's actually been anxious to meet you. She wants to meet her daughter." Yuuno hoped to ease the girl's worries at least a little.

Navigating through the piles of research, he led Zwei to his bedroom door and knocked on it. A calm and beautiful voice a moment. "Enter." That voice seemed to make the girl at Yuuno's side tense up slightly, prompting another squeeze from the man.

To Zwei, the world seemed to have gone silent save for the sound of her heartbeat. She did not hear the sound of the door unlatching, nor the slight creak as it swung open. Swallowing her nerves, the Unison Device stepped into the room with Yuuno at her side.

The contents of the bedroom had been pushed to the sides to make room. The bed was upturned and leaning against one wall with the frame on the opposite while shelves had been shoved as far out of the way as possible. A faint green array of magic glowed against the white carpet. At the center of that array was a small desk with a multitude of cables running to the box housed within it. Atop that desk was a large display screen, hovering just above its emitter.

Standing serenely in that display was Reinforce Eins, a smile on her face.

"Mommy?" asked Zwei in a hushed tone, her fingers slipping from Yuuno's as she approached the display.

Eins almost had tears in her eyes as she finally was given the chance to meet her daughter. "Zwei... My daughter."

It was too much for the girl. She cleared the distance to the computer and placed her hands on the display, desperate to have some form of contact with the woman behind it. "I wanted to meet you, Mommy." Her voice trembled as though trying to hold back overflowing emotion.

In the background, Yuuno quietly excused himself from the room, carefully shutting the door as he did so.

Eins reached out to place her hands against her daughter's. "And I, you." It was a surreal experience for her. The idea of having a child had never before crossed her mind in all the time she had been alive. Yet, here was hers. She could see herself in the girl on the other side of the display. The curve of her jaw. The shape of her lips. Every little feature that Eins had was reflected in this little girl. The eyes, though. They were a lighter color, but those eyes belonged to her Mistress Hayate.

On the other side of the screen, Zwei was having similar thoughts. It was one thing to see photographs. It was another to actually meet that person. She could truly see the similarities between herself and her mother. Perhaps it would be even more pronounced when she was freed from the confines of the computer. "Um..." Everything she wanted to ask seemed to have died on the tip of her tongue.

Eins seemed to sense Zwei's hesitation. "Would you tell me about yourself, Zwei? What little I know is from speaking with Mistress Hayate," asked Reinforce in a tone of voice she hoped sounded motherly.

The girl with powder blue hair nodded happily, drying moist eyes as she did so. "Well..." And so she talked. Zwei went on and on, telling Eins anything and everything. Her first sight had been Hayate's joyful face. Her first meal had been a tomato nearly as big as she at the time. Hayate's embarrassed and pleased look when she called her 'Mommy' for the first time.

The older device listened with rapt attention, wanting to know everything she could about the time she missed with her daughter. Occasionally she would ask a question or tell a brief story from her journey through cyberspace in her quest to reconnect with the family she had been separated from.

She told Eins about her first unison with Hayate and the first mission she went on. Everything from the beginning up until even last week when she beat Vita in a card game was laid out before her second mother. They talked for hours in that bedroom, illuminated by the glow of the magic circle and the light of the display.

While Eins and Zwei bonded, another conversation was occurring in the relative safety of Yuuno's kitchen.

After braving the path, Signum had taken a seat at the table. While Yuuno escorted Zwei to Eins, the pinkette pondered the situation. She had done so many times over the course of the day since Lady Hayate had informed them. It was not the meeting with Eins that bothered her, rather she was glad to be given a chance to reconnect with the woman. There had only been a short amount of time in which Eins had been living with them, fortunately enough for Shamal, Zafira, and herself to finally bury the hatchet with Reinforce.

Old wounds and grievances had seemed inconsequential when finally given the chance to mend things. Vita had disagreed at the time, needing more time to really get over her own grievances. When Eins had decided that the best way to ensure the permanent destruction of the Defense Program was her own death, Vita's time ran out and the Iron Hammer Knight was unable to make peace.

The largest concern for Signum was the Defense Program. Reinforce claimed it was gone and Lady Hayate said that Yuuno's research supported this. It was still a significant worry. Not just for the potential fallout in terms of military action and the repercussions against everyone involved, particularly Lady Hayate, but also for the emotional damage it could cause. Signum did not claim to be an expert in the ways of the heart, but it was blatant to see just what could happen if the events from The Book of Darkness Incident repeated. Hayate would be devastated. She couldn't even begin to imagine how Zwei would take it, now that they had met.

Her thoughts swirled about as she heard the sound of a door closing. Approaching footsteps told her that Yuuno had left Eins and Zwei to become acquainted.

"Would you like anything to drink, Signum? Yuuno offered as he bypassed the table and went towards the refrigerator.

"Some water would be appreciated," answered the General of Fire without turning to look at the blonde.

There was a clinking of glasses and the sound of flowing liquid. "Here." Yuuno set the tall glass of cool water in front of Signum before taking a seat opposite her with his own glass. A sigh of tiredness escaped his lips while the pinkette nodded in thanks.

Taking a few drink of the refreshing fluid, Signum then set the glass down and folded her hands. "You have not been sleeping well, I take it." It was a statement rather than a question. Something to get the conversation going.

"Not really, no. There's a lot of data to sort through, experiments to run, and supplying Reinforce with mana on a regular basis." Though he appeared exhausted, Signum could tell that he was genuinely happy with his situation. The man was a scholar, after all. "Anyways, what did you want to talk about?"

"It concerns the Defense Program. Is it truly and utterly gone?" Signum's eyes were dead serious and had taken on a steely look.

Yuuno took a drink from his own glass and then nodded. "I've been running every possible analysis and examined Reinforce's code thoroughly. Everything has come up negative. In fact, if it weren't for the amount of damage she's suffered, I'd be pretty suspicious," explained the Head Librarian honestly.

Signum gestured for him to elaborate. Lady Hayate had not gone into any significant detail regarding how this had happened, only that it had.

"If Reinforce came to me, perfectly healthy and only a little weak, That would mean that some of her regeneration ability remained. That regeneration is what made the Defense Program virtually immortal. That same regeneration is completely gone from Reinforce. Almost as though it were never there in the first place. Since there is nothing that can allow for regeneration..." Yuuno trailed off at the end to take another sip of water.

"...Then there was nothing encouraging the Defense Program to reconnect to her. She was useless to it," finished the woman as she pieced together what the man across from her was saying.

The blonde gave a nod. "Pretty much, yeah. And since everything has been consistently turning up negative, its just been a matter of rebuilding her code so that she can live outside of the computer once she can produce enough mana."

Signum gave an appreciative smile after a moment of contemplation. "Thank you for clearing my doubts, Yuuno. I will trust in your work." Her stern posture relaxed slightly, no longer on edge from concerns about a worst possible outcome.

The ticking of his wall clock echoed about the home before Signum broke the silence. "Might I inquire how exactly you are providing Reinforce with mana." Yuuno hadn't elaborated on how the procedure worked, not had Lady Hayate. Perhaps if there was something that could be done to aid in this, it would lessen the burden on the librarian.

That seemed to brighten Yuuno's mood. Well, most anything scholarly would do that. "Its... a bit of an unusual procedure, to be honest," he began.

"Unusual?" Signum left that word hanging, not quite certain she liked the sound of it.

"I had to find a way to translate my mana into a format that could be understood by Reinforce's Linker Core in her current state. I wound up looking into a lot of different methods of mana replenishment for ideas and calculations," he explained freely. "In the end, I developed the spell I've got running now. While I only need to provide intermittent bursts of mana, the connection has to remain open at all times so that each transmission has the same... frequency, if could call it that."

Yuuno continued explaining in further detail. Unfortunately, Signum was a Knight, not a scholar, so much of the man's exacting detail went over her head. When he paused for a moment, she interjected. "Is there anything that we can do to assist you with the replenishment? It appears to be taking quite a toll on your well being."

"I don't think so, not without reworking a copy of Reinforce's replenishment spell to allow more donors or connect a donor to me. And I don't have the time or resources to do that." He shook his head in dismay. Any lessening of any of his current tasks would be a significant help, but he couldn't see any way of delegating from where he was at.

"Have you not forgotten that you have allies in this venture? Allow me to take a copy of the spell to Shamal and Zafira. With good fortune, they should be able to work something out," spoke Signum confidently.

The blonde haired man blinked as Signum's words sank in. "Well, now I feel like a fool," he stated simply, resting his chin on one palm.

"In your defense, we did only discover the truth of the situation today," she replied.

"True. I'll make sure to have a copy ready by the time you two head home." Yuuno seemed to have recalled something a few moments after his reply. "Signum, why did Zwei call me 'Daddy'?" It was certainly nothing he'd ever heard from her before.

There was a pause before Signum answered. She seemed to be contemplating something. "In a way, you could be considered her father and she views you as such. Though she may be borne of Reinforce and Lady Hayate, Zwei would not exist without your considerable assistance and she knows that." Looking towards the bedroom, the pinkette continued. "She said as much on the drive over, much to my own surprise as well."

"I... see," responded Yuuno in a somewhat bewildered tone that showed on his tired face. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense if he looked at it from Zwei's point of view. Even if he only started out by assisting with research, but the time Zwei had been born he had become far more involved. There was an odd feeling associated with it, but not unpleasant in the slightest.

"Is there a problem with that?" queried Signum flatly, raising an eyebrow as she did so.

Shaking his head and waving his hands in a placating manner, Yuuno was quick to clarify. "No, not at all. Its just little unexpected, is all." An amused smile appeared on the librarian's features. "I wonder why she never said anything."

"That would be something you would have to inquire about from Zwei herself. I would consider the possibility that she was either unable to find a way to bring it to your attention or afraid that it would change the status quo unfavorably," offered Signum honestly.

Yuuno found himself agreeing with that sentiment. "I never thought that being forced to take a vacation would lead me to be reviving the 'dead' and finding out that someone I've known for years considers me her father."

"At the very least, you can say that you do not lead a boring life, Yuuno," commented Signum with a smile.

"Is Zafira going to be coming after me with that gun again?" questioned Yuuno hesitantly, but with some amount of humor.

Signum chuckled. "Zwei should be able to dissuade him on that front. I do believe you should still be wary around him for a while though. There is a particular rumor floating around headquarters that, while he knows is false, has him in a particularly foul mood."

The blonde man took on a slightly confused look. "What do you mean. I thought Zafira didn't put any stock in rumors."

"This one involves Lady Hayate, yourself, and I believe the phrase I heard was 'expecting the stork'?" she stated plainly.

Yuuno's reaction at first was an understanding nod of his head. Zafira tended to get worked up whenever Hayate was involved. It was completely understandable as the man viewed Hayate as his daughter. It was also apparently rather amusing to watch him chase down a particular librarian. Being the librarian in question, Yuuno didn't quite see the humor when the Guardian Beast was on the warpath with his dubiously acquired magic shotgun.

His reaction slowly turned into shock as the rest of Signum's words processed. His cheeks burned and he began to stammer while making frantic gestures with his hands. "But. But. We. That is. I. Her. We haven't. We're not. How?"

The sight nearly caused Signum to go beyond her characteristic chuckle and into a full on laugh. Nearly.

It took a little while for Yuuno to compose himself again, though he hadn't been able to fight down the blush on his face. "I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that one of Hayate's pranks backfired?" The commander's pranks and jokes rarely went awry. But when they did, they tended to do so spectacularly.

"Ms. Finiero overheard Lady Hayate's jest," Signum clarified with a nod, much to Yuuno's horror.

"Oh, Kaiser..." There was an audible thump as the blonde's head hit the table. He knew all too well the power of that woman's rumors.

Still, Yuuno's reaction turned a few gears in the pinkette's mind and she began pondering something that hadn't come to the forefront in a while. That something being her Lady Hayate's love life. Lady Hayate had always been a work driven individual, even so far back as middle school. Something that she shared with her two best female friends: Nanoha and Fate.

When girls her age were first fawning over boys, or girls if their tastes ran in that direction, Lady Hayate was in communication with the TSAB's officer academy. When young cadets were running around after hours with their boyfriends or girlfriends, Lady Hayate was practicing with her deadly array of spells. When other officers were getting married, Lady Hayate was reviewing case files and troop deployment strategies.

It was not to say that she was so driven that she did not have fun. She certainly had enough fun, sometimes at the expense of her friends and family when she was in a teasing or groping mood. However Lady Hayate's work drive left little to no time for romantic endeavors. She'd never had a boyfriend or girlfriend, though the number of individuals who had desired to obtain that title was not small. Even the rare few who managed the courage to ask her out in the first place, were turned down.

Verossa Acous had been one such individual. He had sought something more than friendship with Lady Hayate, but had decided against bringing the topic up when he'd summoned up the courage. Signum supposed that she and the rest of the Knights had something to do with that. They had taken a good long look at the, at the time, boy when he'd approached their Mistress and found him... lacking. To the General of Fire, it was for the better. To Signum, Verossa was a exasperating individual at best and distasteful at worst.

Now that she was thinking about it, Signum began considering two possibilities. The first was that Lady Hayate simply had no interest in developing a romantic relationship with anyone. She already had a family in the Wolkenritter and an array of very close friends. Perhaps that was enough for her.

The other possibility was that Lady Hayate simply had a rather high standard set when considering a romantic partner. Shamal had once commented how people tended to set all kinds of standards based on those around them. Why that had come up escaped Signum's mind at the moment, but it seemed relevant to her current train of thought. Should she seek a female, that woman would likely have to stand up to the standards of Enforcer Fate.T Harlaown and The White Devil to name a few.

Were Lady Hayate to find a male desirable, he would have fewer, but no less intimidating individuals to face. Admiral Chrono Harlaown, Knight of the Shield: Zafira, and even the man sitting across from her, Head Librarian of the Infinity Library: Yuuno Scrya.

Signum doubted that the number of individuals who could meet up to such a high standard could be counted on more than one hand.

That led to another line of thinking: Suppose her Mistress already had romantic designs on someone and was waiting for the most opportune moment to strike. Signum doubted that was the case, as very little about their Mistress escaped their watchful eye. Though there was always a chance. Lady Hayate was a notoriously detailed strategist and had hidden plans right under the noses of some individuals before.

If that was the situation... Who could it be? The only possibilities that came to mind were her closest friends. Fate or Nanoha were possibilities. Were Chrono not married, he could be a candidate. Though he was probably the least likely target amongst friends for Lady Hayate to place her affections upon. Eventually, Signum's theories landed on Yuuno.

Yuuno was a more likely candidate than previously thought, now that the pinkette considered it. Lady Hayate often stopped by the library in person for information or even to say hello to the man. Not to mention how often she stayed here. There was always a chance something could happen without the Knights' knowledge. Personally, Signum did not mind the idea of her Mistress entering into a more personal relationship with the librarian. He was a good man who respected Lady Hayate, they had been close friends for years, was willing to go that extra mile for her, and would sooner die than make her cry.

Part of Signum's mind wondered why she was so stuck on the idea of love and romance today as it tended to be more Shamal's venue than her own. Maybe that trashy novel that had been loaned to her by Ginga Nakajima was having an effect on her brain.

Apparently her musings had left her slightly out of tune with the world as Yuuno's voice finally penetrated her thoughts. "-ignum. Signum. You alright? You zoned out for a little," spoke Yuuno with some concern.

Blinking to finish clearing her head, Signum coughed into her fist before replying. "My apologies, Yuuno. I was... contemplating something. Do not concern yourself with it. Would you repeat what you were saying?"

Acquiescing, Yuuno repeated himself. "I said that it was starting to get a bit late and I was wondering if you and Zwei had plans for dinner since Hayate is going out with Nanoha and Fate."

Signum turned to see the time on the clock and found that they had been talking for quite a while now. The artificial sun was beginning to dip into the horizon and painted the sky a brilliant orange that seeped in through one of the few windows in the residence.

"I had not planned on staying out so late. We were likely going to order takeout or have Vita attempt to cook something," answered the woman, idly wondering if the inability to cook was something inherent in all Belkan Knights or if their group just so happened to be terrible at it. Interestingly, Vita was the most adept at producing relatively edible meals with Zwei as a close second.

"I'll have to make a short run to get a few more groceries, but would you and Zwei like to stay for dinner?" asked Yuuno with a smile.

Signum looked a bit hesitant before answering. "I will accept your offer on two conditions." Yuuno blinked in surprise and confusion as the pink haired Knight stood. "The first being that you permit Zwei to prepare the meal and the second that you permit myself to obtain the groceries." Her tone brooked no argument.

Yuuno nodded dumbly, not quite certain how to even begin arguing that he should be the one to take care of his guests and not the other way around. He supposed that the tiredness from his tasks would count against him and ultimately gave up the idea of trying to go against Signum's stance. "I give. You win," he stated with a tired grin.

A raised pink eyebrow was the response given with a small smirk. "You are indeed a wise man." Yuuno simply let his head fall to the table again as Signum left the kitchen, opting to brave the dangerous path to the bedroom where Eins and Zwei were talking.

Signum's hand hesitated for a moment before rapping against the door softly. "Enter," called out Reinforce Eins' voice. The door was opened and the pinkette stepped into a similarly surreal scene that had met Zwei hours prior. Zwei had reverted to her more compact form and was floating next to Eins' display, a happy smile on her face.

To many, the reunion would seem underwhelming. However Signum had made her peace with the silver haired woman and to her, it ended up feeling more like welcoming back a long lost friend rather than the dead. "It has been a long time, Lady Reinforce. Welcome back."

"It is good to be back, Knight Signum. You seem well," replied the trapped Unison Device in a somewhat formal tone, though there was a smile upon her face.

"I am, thank you," finished Signum, returning the smile before turning to Zwei. "Zwei, Yuuno has offered to let us stay for dinner." The powder blue haired girl's response was a happy exclamation. Before she could ask what they were having, Signum held up a hand and continued. "I have accepted under the condition that he allow me to obtain the groceries and that you do the cooking." Zwei didn't look so enthusiastic as moments before.

Eins stepped in to support Signum. "Zwei, Yuuno is doing a great deal to assist me. Cooking dinner is the least you can do as a show of appreciation."

That seemed to brighten up Zwei's countenance. "Alright. I'll do my best." She turned to Eins' display. "Will you... er, sit? with us, Mommy?" It was a little difficult to find the right words to ask someone who was trapped in a computer to join you for dinner.

"I shall," replied Eins. She would have to ask Yuuno to connect her primary display to the remote unit he had obtained the other day.

"Go get your coat, I will need you to tell me what ingredients you need for dinner," commanded Signum to Zwei, who gave Eins' display a hug before flying off to do as told. "I haven't seen her this happy since Christmas."

"She is quite the young woman. That she calls me her mother makes me regret those lost years all the more," stated Reinforce.

Signum gave a nod. "You will have plenty of time to make memories with her, Lady Hayate, all of us..."

Zwei's voice cut into Signum's words. "C'mon, Signum! Daddy says that the sales are going to end soon."

"We shall return soon, Lady Reinforce. Again, it is good to have you back with us." With that, the General of Fire left the room with a slightly befuddled Eins left behind.

She could vaguely hear the shutting of the front door, signaling the departure of her daughter and general. When Yuuno entered the bedroom , Eins looked at him quizzically. "Daddy?"


End file.
